Operation Normandy - Mon 13th Apr - Day 2 “Ham & Jam”

Part 1 of a 2 part blog.

We were woken early (5am) by the bins being noisily emptied! A chap parked over in the Marina part of the aire said they were woken even earlier at 4am by the fish market. As we were getting ready to leave a toilet attendant came and put the toilet back in working order. We left Fecamp and the Aire at 9 in the morning and headed for our next objective, visit the Pegasus bridge and also the first liberated cafe in France, Cafe Gondree.

The Allies assigned codenames to the various operations involved in the invasion.  Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings (Operation Neptune, commonly known as D-Day). A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than three million allied troops were in France by the end of August.

 

            

So on the night of 5 June 1944, a force of 181 men, led by Major John Howard, took off from RAF Tarrant Rushton in Dorset, southern England in six Horsa gliders to capture Pegasus Bridge, and also "Horsa Bridge", a few hundred yards to the east, over the Orne River. The object of this action was to prevent German armour from crossing the bridges and attacking the eastern flank of the landings at Sword Beach.

The gliders were towed across the Channel by Halifax Bombers. With perfect navigation and piloting skill, the gliders landed on time and on target within few yards of each other. Major Howard’s glider landed within a few feet of the canal bridge.

The bridge was captured after a fierce ten minute fire fight, the action all over by 0026, a full six hours before the
beach landings.

So, just 90 minutes after taking off from RAF Tarrant Rushton in England, Major Howard was able to send the code words "Ham and Jam", indicating that both bridges had been captured. In this early action of D-Day, the first house on French soil was liberated, and the first British soldier of the Normandy Invasion was killed in action, Lieutenant Den Brotheridge.

The Caen Canal bridge was renamed Pegasus Bridge after the emblem of the British airborne forces, while the River Orne bridge became Horsa Bridge. The road across them is now the "Esplanade Major John Howard". Since the end of the war, Pegasus Bridge and the adjacent Café Gondree have become a place where British veterans of the conflict visiting Normandy congregate. In 1994 when Pegasus Bridge was replaced by a new structure, the original bridge was added to the displays at the Pegasus Museum in Benouville.

 

We parked Monty in the car park just in front of the museum.  While we were there it was busy with 3 coaches and a few cars and another motorhome, but there was still space.  I think there is more parking further up the road.  The museum is well laid out with lots of information, displays, equipment and artefacts.  Allow yourself plenty of time to look around as there is quite a lot of information.  Entry per person was 7euros and was well worth every cent. Memorial Pegasus website.

After looking round the inside of the museum we headed outside where  you’ll see the original bridge, along with a Horsa glider, a centaur tank named Vidette, from the landings on Sword Beach, and other various military pieces.

Then we walked to the replacement bridge over the canal, a larger version of the original.  To the left of the bridge is a the area where the 3 gliders landed, marked by 3 stone pillars.  Amazing to think of the accuracy of the pilots in landing so close in the dark without the use of modern navigation aids. 

Then we crossed over the bridge to Cafe Gondree.  The café was taken by the 7th Battalion to serve as their Headquarters and Regimental Aid Post. Georges Gondree disappeared into the garden to dig up no fewer than ninety-eight bottles of champagne that he had buried in June 1940, and very soon the scene was one of great celebration as free drinks were handed out to all and sundry. Upon hearing of this, Major Howard ordered all of his men to report sick at the Aid Post so that they could get their share of the drink. Georges continued to serve complimentary drinks to the 7th Battalion, the Coup de Main force and the arriving Commandos throughout the day. The kind hospitality offered to the British soldiers by the Gondrée Family continues to this day. Ever since, when veterans have returned to Normandy to mark the anniversary of the battle, no man of the 6th Airborne Division has had to pay for a drink at the café.

Georges Gondrée died on the 5th April 1969, Thérèse on the 2nd July 1984. A most distinguished couple, they were held in the highest regard by French civilians and British veterans. The ownership of the café and its close links with the British Airborne Forces have been maintained by their family.

 

Lunchtime, so we decided to head off to our next destination some 40 minutes away.

More info in part 2 of day 2’s blog.

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